Suren Hasmikyan: there is no “human being” in modern Armenian films

PanARMENIAN.Net - On October 20, Yerevan hosted a roundtable discussion, entitled: “Hero of Our Time: Problem of Time,” held as part of Kinoashun (Cinema Autumn) festival.

“Around 100 different films are produced in Armenia annually, and they receive so many awards that it is difficult to maintain their statistics,” said film critic Suren Hasmikyan.

According to him, it is an evidence of high level of Armenian cinema. Referring to the discussion subject, Hasmikyan noted that even in case of good filmmakers and actors, there is no a “human being” in Armenian films.

Editor of Ruskino magazine Robert Matosyan noted that the Armenian cinema had two directions in the past: national and avant-garde cinema. According to him, now we have only the last one that creates a misbalance in the Armenian cinema. Thus, he hailed organization of Kinoashun festival, saying it is a way for familiarization with traditions of the Armenian cinema.

Filmmaker Ara Baghdasaryan believes that modern Armenian films are much more appropriate for the reality than the Soviet films. However, according to him, this mostly refers to documentaries. “We lack both professional filmmakers and actors, thus, I prefer to create documentaries,” said Baghdasaryan.

All participants of the discussion expressed resentment over the fact that low interest is displayed towards Armenian films as part of the festival.